Courts

Court awards €12,500 to former security guard who said he was assaulted and racially abused

Judge satisfied there had been a breach of the employer’s duty to provide a safe place of work

Magnus Osa Izedomwen was assaulted while working at a burger restaurant on Dublin's Dame Street. Photograph: Collins Courts

Thu Nov 16 2023 - 20:08

A former security worker at a burger restaurant who claimed he was assaulted and racially abused by two young female tourists has been awarded €12,500 by the High Court.

Magnus Osa Izedomwen (48) was formerly employed by RFC Security Ltd, with an address in Swords, Co Dublin, which provided security services to Rick’s Burger restaurant on Dame Street, Dublin.

He sued RFC and Fastone Ltd, trading as Rick’s Burger, over the incident in the restaurant on January 18th, 2016, when he was attacked by two women after he told them not to put their feet on a table.

He claimed the women said “f***ing black man, don’t talk to us”, before they started beating him with their fists and hitting him with plastic bottles on the arm.

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He also claimed a garda arrived and spoke to him and the women. However, he claimed the women returned to the restaurant and tried to get back in after the garda left. He said he suffered a cut under his eye and scratches to his face and ended up with tennis elbow for six months due to the assault.

His senior counsel, Conor Bowman, instructed by Conor O’Ceallaigh & Co Solicitors, argued the defendants failed to provide a safe place of work by failing to have a backup security person to help him deal with incidents like this in the very busy Temple Bar area in the early hours of a weekend day.

The defendants, represented by Hugh Mohan SC and Eamon Marray BL, instructed by OBL Solicitors, denied his claims. They argued he had acted in an aggressive and rude manner towards one of the women and was the author of his own misfortune.

The case first came before the Circuit Court last year, when it was dismissed.

Mr Izedomwen, who lives in Balbriggan, Dublin, and has since left the security industry to work in Rehab care, appealed to the High Court, which heard the case on Thursday. The defendants opposed the appeal.

In her ruling, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan said the only evidence she had of the assault was from Mr Izedomwen himself. The court heard there was no CCTV evidence.

She had also heard from a security expert for his side who testified there should have been two security people on duty and from the garda who was called to the scene and who decided there was no reason to arrest the women as they were co-operative.

She was satisfied the assaults happened in the manner in which he described although his injuries were minor. She was also satisfied there had been a breach of the employer’s duty to provide a safe place of work. She awarded him €12,500.

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